History of Widmerpool Hall

The Widmerpool Estate

It is thought that a manor house has been at Widmerpool since at least 1216 when Henricus de Diddisworth took the name Widemerpool to secure the estate for his family. His descendants remained Lords of the Manor until the 19th Century when the estate passed into the ownership of the Robertson Family who managed the estate of about four thousand acres, comprising seven farms and some thirty cottages, until the 1920s.

In 1871 Major George Coke Robertson decided to build the present Widmerpool Hall. He chose a new site in an elevated location within a short distance of the village, to take advantage of magnificent views to the church and over the surrounding countryside. In keeping with his aspirations for a grand county house, Major Robertson chose the architect Henry Clutton to oversee the development of the Hall.

The Architect

Henry Clutton was a well-known architect specialising in the design of ecclesiastical buildings and country houses for the county aristocracy and nouveaux riches of the era.

Clutton’s designs reflected his interests in the architecture of earlier times – particularly French Medieval. A man of considerable imagination and ingenuity, Clutton was also influenced by the passion sweeping mid-Victorian England for the Gothic Revival style. Henry Clutton’s reputation for meeting time schedules and working to budget won him many coveted commissions of which Ruthin Castle, Lille Cathedral, Welcome Hall in Stratford upon Avon and Sandy Lodge in Bedfordshire are of particular note.

Widmerpool Hall was one of Clutton’s last projects and it was a commission to which he devoted meticulous care ensuring every aspect of his chosen style was brought to elegant fruition. Much of Henry Clutton’s fantastic and glorious can still be enjoyed today.

The Hall

Clutton’s ‘Jacobethan’ design for Widmerpool Hall was very much a return to a favoured, but slightly outdated. style when building commenced in 1871.
Grandiose plans for the building included an impressive Italianate tower, gabled facades, mullioned windows and elaborate masonry complete with decorative gargoyles.

The materials specified for the house demanded the highest quality throughout. Henry Clutton was well known for very individual styling and his particular attention to detail is also reflected in the Hall’s interior where marble fireplaces, painted glass windows, ornate panelling and generously moulded plaster work provide outstanding period features in many rooms.

During the recent renovations, great care has been taken to retain all possible original detail in this impressive Grade II listed country house.